Airport Expansion

It has been the worst stretch in airline history. Thousands of industry workers lost their jobs, airlines went out of business and nine out of 10 holiday travelers are taking to their cars.

So what are the airports doing? They're expanding.

Airport construction, which does not happen overnight, is not influenced by temporary crises but by long-term analysis, and the long-term prognosis is for a boom in the air industry.

The British Air Transport Association is the latest to get the go-ahead for a fifth terminal at London's Heathrow Airport. Other growing airports serve Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

Not to be outdone, Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports are going forward with massive expansion projects.

Chocolate exhibit

The ultimate chocolate exhibition in Chicago's Field Museum will trace its origins in the Maya and Aztec cultures through its introduction to Europe and finally into the mouths of sweet-toothed Americans. The chocolate exhibit opens Feb. 14, natch, and continues through Dec. 31, 2002.

Breath of fresh air

The 123-room Hotel Monasterio in Cuzco, Peru, claims to have a "fresh approach" never before offered in any hotel -- oxygen-enriched guest rooms. Five of the hotel's suites are outfitted with oxygen service and, by next year, a total of 50 rooms will provide additional concentrations of oxygen 24 hours a day.

The Orient-Express hotel sits at an altitude of 11,000 feet in the Andes mountain range, offering spectacular views but maybe a bit of discomfort to those not accustomed to such altitudes. The oxygen-enriched rooms are designed to provide "a soothing introduction to the higher altitudes of Peru" and a good night's sleep, according to Filip Boyen, general manager for Orient-Express Hotels, Peru.